1. Field
The following description relates to a multi-view image coding apparatus and method for encoding a multi-view image, and a multi-view image decoding apparatus and method for decoding an encoded multi-view image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A stereoscopic image refers to a three-dimensional (3D) image that simultaneously provides shape information about a depth and a space together with image information. Different from a stereo image that simply provides images of different views to left and right eyes of a user, respectively, the stereoscopic image is seen as if viewed from different directions as the user varies the user's point of view. Therefore, images taken from different views are used to create the stereoscopic image.
Since images taken at a plurality of views have a large amount of data, it is almost impracticable to encode the taken images using a single-view video coding method, such as MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, and high efficiency video coding (HEVC), in consideration of a network infrastructure and a terrestrial bandwidth.
Accordingly, to further efficiently encode images taken from different views, there is a need for an encoding method suitable for a multi-view image. However, due to limitations in the network infrastructure and the terrestrial bandwidth, a multi-view video compression method is to be further efficiently enhanced.